I know it now
by AlisaRB
Summary: AU - No Zombies / Beth works as a nurse in nursing home Rosewood, and she's one of the very few people who Mrs. Dixon seems to tolerate, but when the management threatens to expell her if her behavior doesn't improve, Beth starts looking for her relatives and runs into Daryl Dixon.
1. Kin

Beth was blowing absently at her coffee while she watched the elderly playing cards sitting at a table. She felt a cold draft running through her and she huddled even more in her knitted cardigan, bringing the cup to her lips to take a little sip. She wrinkled her nose at the feeling of the lava running down her throat.

"You're here" she heard a voice behind her. She turned around and saw Rosita bent over the counter, looking at her coffee with desire, "Where did you find it? The coffee machine is broken".

"I always bring a thermos from my home" Beth explained, turning again to go into the small office and taking the recipient from her bag.

"I love you" Rosita said, bringing a cup to Beth so she could pour the dark liquid. The woman licked her lips when she felt the smell invading the room, "There's nothing better for cold than this".

Beth smiled.

"But I wished we could have heating. We have a chimney and we don't use it".

"It doesn't swallow the smoke how it should" Beth explained, "They will all end up choking".

"Talking about elderly" Rosita said suddenly, leaving the cup on the counter and crouching down to dim through archives, "I need you to go to see Mrs. Dixon"

"What happened?"

"What happened was the usual. Last night she had one of her nervous breakdown again and we had to sedate her, but this morning she was already nervous. She doesn't let anyone else to come close. If you could go and stay a while with her…"

"Sure" Beth immediately answered, before she dropped her coffee cup beside Rosita's and getting out of the office, "I'll see you later!"

"Ciao" said Rosita, winking at her.

Beth hurried in go the distance that there was to the rooms of the elderly. When she got to room 412, she knocked softly and half opened the door, poking her head through the doorway:

"Good morning misses Dixon" she murmured, smiling, "Can I come in?"

The old lady was lying on the bed, with her head turned to the window and her arms full of IV's for which were probably being injected tranquilizers. Most of the times she didn't even hear her, medicated as she was, and Beth just simply came in to help her cleaning up or taking her to the dining room. However, that time she turned her head and glanced at her before she nodded.

Beth came in and closed the door behind her, coming closer to her bed.

"How are you feeling this morning, Mrs. Dixon?"

"Mm…"

"I'll replace your pillows so you'll be more comfortable, alright?" she lifted her up slightly while she helped the old lady to move, "That's it, careful. That's it".

Beth covered her with the sheets again and then brought a chair that was beside the bed even closer to it, sitting by her side.

"Today's a beautiful day. Have you seen it?" she said, pointing to the window, "What about we put you in a wheel chair and we go for a walk?"

The old woman didn't answer, and despite Beth expected it, it didn't lessened the disappointment she felt every time the elderly ignored her or refused to do something. There were days when she seemed less reluctant to agree and was even able to try and walk by herself to the living room or eat anything, but most times –like that- the old lady was so caught up in her own world that she seemed unable to do even the easiest of the activities.

No one in the nursery home knew what had happened to the unfortunate. The woman had arrived after falling off a window of her home and breaking several bones. The AMT said that it had been almost impossible to get her on the ambulance, nervous as she was. The only thing that she wanted was to go back inside, but she couldn't move without screaming in pain. After two weeks in intensive care, finally she was brought to Rosewood. It was a public nursery home, with barely any resources or grants, but at least they had a bed for her and people who worried that she wouldn't fall again from a second floor.

At the beginning it had been so difficult to come close to her in any way, even with something as simple as trying to help her getting up, that some of the auxiliaries had nicknamed her "the beast". Beth thought that it was anything but funny. It was obvious that the lady hadn't had an easy life if she was that distrustful. Besides, every time Beth looked in her eyes, that penetrating blue eyes she had, Beth was invaded by the feeling that maybe, behind that dazed gaze there was hidden more than one story that she was willing to hear.

So she kept going visiting her every day, taking care of her personally. It wasn't especially difficult having her shifts changed to take care of "the beast", but it was getting her out of her shell, especially when she had these nervous breakdowns when there wasn't any way to calm her down except for medication. But little by little she was getting her to get out of that fort that had created and started sharing parts of her past with her. They weren't really momentous things, but rather little details, like that her favorite flowers were daisies, that her favorite tobacco brand was Camel or that there wasn't anything that she liked more than those old pin-up magazines.

Beth was going from one place to another of the room, trying to put nicely the flowers of the jar, opening more the curtains and trying to put everything in order, so focused on her job that she needed a few seconds to realize that the old lady was calling her.

"Sorry, Mrs. Dixon" she apologized, "What were you saying?"

"Sing, Beth" she begged in a small voice, "Sing a bit, today's cold…"

Sometimes Beth wondered if she really understood that what she was saying didn't make any sense, but she definitely wasn't going to make any comments about it. Instead, she approached her bed and smiled.

"Of course" she assured, taking her hand in hers softly. To her surprise, the old woman didn't flinch. Beth held her gaze while she sung quietly:

 _Every man has a right to live,_

 _Love is all that we have to give_

 _Together we struggle by our will to survive_

 _And together we fight just to stay alive_

 _Struggling man has got to move_

 _Struggling man, no time to lose_

 _I'm a struggling man_

 _And I've got to move on_

 _. . ._

And while the old woman nodded her head softly to the beat of her voice, with her eyes closed and a soft smile on her chapped lips, Beth reaffirmed over and over again on why she had decided to start working in Rosewood. Just for things like that. Just to see people like Mrs. Dixon in peace for a few minutes.

* * *

Beth occupied a sit next to Rosita and Lori in one of the tables on the break room.

"It's the fifth cup today and it's just lunch time" Lori complained while she looked at her coffee.

"Yeah, today's has been a hectic day" Rosita agreed, burying her face in her hands. Suddenly, she raised her head, like she just had remembered something. Rosita used to do that frequently, from what Beth had seen, "Do you know what doctors were talking about today?"

"You shouldn't hear private conversations" Lori scolded her affectionately. Rosita frown, but she kept talking nevertheless.

"This is important, Lori. They're thinking about expelling Mrs. Dixon".

"What? Why?" Lori asked, worry evident in her voice.

Beth raised her head from her sandwich so fast that her neck hurt, but in those moments she wasn't so self-conscious to realize.

"Apparently they're tired of her deliriums, and it seems like yesterday was the straw that breaks the camel" Rosita leaned in before she lowered her voice, "Doctor Jensen tried to get her in bed and she screamed him some not very nice things before she scratched his whole face".

"That was her?" Beth intervened. That morning, when she saw the reddish line extending across his cheek, she had wondered if maybe he had an unruly cat. However, she didn't dare to ask. Doctor Jensen was almost as old as is patients, and he was, with no doubt, the most unfriendly man Beth had ever met. It didn't matter how much she tried to be polite, how much she smiled and tried to make him twitch a little bit the corners of his mouth, he always kept that expression of immutable severity.

Rosita nodded.

"He got so mad at her that he almost lost his temper. After they sedated her, he went straight to the nursery management and told them that he wouldn't keep working in those conditions. Alexis and Frank swear that the screams could be heard from the entry" Rosita giggled. She hated Doctor Jensen with especially intensity.

"Poor woman" Lori sighed, "It's like they don't realize that she's a person. What are they going to do, throw her to the street like she was a dog?"

"I don't know" her colleague shrugged, "I guess they'll deliberate and take a decision, but unless she changes her behavior, I doubt they'll allow her stay. They'll probably send her to Versan".

"What do you say?" Beth exclaimed, "But that place is awful".

"Helen worked there for a while. She says they had to heat the water in pans 'cause there wasn't running water", Rosita commented.

Beth's eyes widened, horrified.

"We have to do something" she said. Her partners looked at her and sighed.

"Sweetheart, I'm afraid we can't do much" Lori took her hand gently, trying to support her, "I know you really appreciate her, but it's not our call. No one wants to take care of her, and she has no one to look after her. They won't waste her money on someone who gives them more troubles" she added bitterly.

"And what if there was a relative?" Beth said suddenly, like a bulb had lighted in her mind, "Someone who could come and spend time with her, who could look after her. I'm sure management would notice that. And she'd be calmer, much better".

"And where are you going to find them?" Rosita asked, "You were here when AMT's came. There was no one in her house, and the two months that followed while she was at the hospital, no one picked up the phone when they called. I don't think she has nobody".

"But, what if I found them?" Beth insisted. Lori sighed.

"Then I guess you could try and put off all this a little bit more, but that doesn't mean that…" but Beth had already stood up, going back in a hurry to room 412.

Mrs. Dixon was staring at the ceiling, with those unexpressive eyes of her. Beth knocked softly on the door, but that time she didn't wait for her permission to come in.

"Ma'am" she started, "I need to talk to you".

The woman didn't answer, but she did the slightest gesture to note that she had heard her. Beth approached her bed immediately.

"We need to speak about your family" she said directly, without beat about the bush. She didn't respond, but from the way her shoulders tensed, Beth knew she had heard that too, "It's important".

Beth stayed quiet a few seconds, waiting for an answer. She sighed, almost desperate.

"Listen, please, I wouldn't ask you if it wasn't absolutely necessary. Are you married? Do you have a husband?"

"No husband, no husband, no husband" she started saying, jerking her head too sharply for her own good. Beth held her carefully by her shoulders to try to calm her down.

"It's alright, it's alright, everything's okay" Beth assured her. She stayed like that until old woman's shoulder stop trembling, and then she dropped her hands to her sides, conscious of how little the old lady liked to be touched, "Siblings? Do you have any brothers of sister with whom you had contact?" the woman took a little bit more time, but she finally shook her head, "Children? Do you have children?"

Beth didn't really expect her to respond. Mrs. Dixon stared at that water-stained ceiling for several minutes, almost as if she was on shock, before her lips opened slightly. She said it so quietly the first time that Beth didn't even understand her at the beginning, but then she got it.

"You said the drawer? Do you mean this drawer, Mrs. Dixon?" Beth asked, signaling to the nightstand beside her bed. She didn't reply, and then Beth opened the first drawer. She found an old metallic box, which had contained butter cookies once. She held it in her hands, and when she saw Mrs. Dixon didn't react in any way, she opened it.

Inside it there were lots of photos. Some of them had a faded color; others were black on white, but all of them with date and some note below. Beth started watching them one by one, until she finally got to the more recent ones. She stopped in the penultimate picture, which put apart from the rest and held in front of the old lady.

"These are your children, Mrs. Dixon? Merle and Daryl?" she asked.

"My children" the old lady muttered, turning slightly her head towards the picture. She raised a trembling hand and took the photo, "My babies".

"Do you know where they are?" Maybe I could call them so they could visit you. Would you like it?"

The woman raised her glaze to look at her, like she was gone again. She shook once.

"Far" she just said. Beth wanted to whine of frustration. She took the picture carefully from the wrinkled fingers of the old woman and observed the photography. There was a woman in it –Mrs. Dixon, Beth guessed- in her middle thirties, and two boys. The older one, who was around ten, looked at the camera with a serious expression, while the younger one, who Beth supposed wasn't more than three, had his fist buried in his mouth, resting her head against his mother's chest. Beth felt like her heart was breaking. It wasn't the first or the last habitant in that nursing home whom children never appeared, but with her that was especially painful, because the only thing Mrs. Dixon was able to say now was "my babies" in a low voice, in such an anguish tone that Beth felt her eyes watery.

"I'll find your sons, Mrs. Dixon" Beth promised her.

* * *

Beth spent the next two days running around from one place to another, looking for information numbers, asking anyone who could know where Merle and Daryl Dixon were. She skipped her breaks for lunch to go searching in the registers, to ask in any business, to Dixon's neighbors. She soon discovered that the most she would ever get from them was a place to buy drugs, and she desisted in that clue.

She had just learned that the management was going to communicate Mrs. Dixon that it would be better if she was transferred to another nursing home –like she had a _choice_ \- when she received a call in the middle of a break.

"Beth!" Alexis called her from reception, "It's for you!"

Beth hurried to pick up the phone.

"Hello?" she answered, almost distressingly.

"Beth?" she recognized official Walsh's voice. Shane was one of the cops of the town, and together with Rick, good friends of his father. She had known him for years and he had always been kind to her, "Why are you asking for the Dixon?"

"Do you know them?" she asked, excited.

"Of course I know them, Beth. In the police station they're already celebrities", he snorted, "But I don't get why you look for them. They're bad news, Beth".

"They can't be that bad" she protested weakly.

"I've arrested Merle Dixon several times, I think I know what I'm talking about" Shane retorted.

"So that you know where they are" Beth countered.

"I… God" he sighed, "I didn't say that".

"But you do know".

"Beth, don't get involved with these people" his tone was severe now; "I don't want to feel obligated to talk with your dad".

Now the one who wanted to snort was her. She was twenty-three, for God's sake. She wanted to point out that she wasn't thirteen anymore, but since Shane was the only person who could lead her to the Dixon; she couldn't risk to lose that clue.

"Her mother is a patient here. They want to transfer her to Versan, Shane. I can't let that happen to her", her voice wavered, "Please, I need to find them".

"What can they do anyway?"

"Maybe if… if they come here and be with here and the management realizes that she's not going to cause any more trouble they'll let her stay".

Shane snorted again.

"If what you're looking for is someone as a good influence for a senile old, you're looking for the wrong people" Shane answered, with a humorless tone.

" _Please_ " Beth begged, without caring anymore to look totally desperate. She really was. She waited some seconds in silence, praying for her insides, until she heard him sigh.

"I didn't tell you anything, Beth. You hear me? Anything" he gibbered, and Beth had to suppress herself to not giggle of joy, "Take note".

Beth looked for a pen in her blouse's pocket and started writing in a post-it the number Shane was dictating her at full speed.

"I've got it" she muttered with a triumphal tone, giving a final tap with the pen tip to the paper, "Thanks Shane, I owe you one".

"It's nothing, Beth" he answered, "But, hey".

"Yes?"

"Be careful with these people".

"I'll be" she assured him, smiling of pure happiness. She hung up the phone and decided to mark the number phone that she had in front of her, but then the damn Doctor Jensen came and started scolding and asking her if she "didn't have anything to do".

Hours later, when she had got home, she let herself drop into the couch, burying herself in the softness of the cushions. She was about to close her eyes and take a five-minutes nap before she showered and had dinner when she realized that a paper had dropped from her pocket. Then she remembered all of a sudden and she got up quickly to get the phone.

Her heart was pounding while she marked keys, and she feared that her heart would go out of her chest when she heard the first rings of the call. It just needed to ring twice until someone picked it up.

"Hello?" it was a husky and deep voice, and it gave her goose bumps, "Who is it?"

Beth swallowed hard and inhaled deeply.

"Hi" she managed to say, "Merle Dixon?"

"Daryl" the voice answered, "Who's this?"

"I'm-I'm Beth Greene. I work in the nursing home Rosewood nursing home, next to…"

"I know where it is" the voice cut her sharply. Beth congratulated herself for being such an idiot. Of course he knew. It wasn't like Newborn was a place especially big.

"I take care of your mother" she said hurriedly, "There was a problem and…"

"I can't help you" he interrupted her rudely. Beth was momentarily speechless from the tone of his words.

"Sorry, I think I haven't explained myself correctly. Your mom has been having behavior problems and we thought that maybe…"

"Where did you get this number from?" he cut her again. Beth was losing her patience, but she inhaled deeply and tried to maintain calmed.

"It's a small town" she just said, "Now, if you could help me…"

"I just said I can't do anything. You deaf?" he barked, and Beth felt then like she was on fire.

"Listen, Mr. Dixon, I don't know what problems you could have with your mom, but she's still your mom. They're about to transfer her and she doesn't even realize what happens around her, but she remembers you and your brother and she keeps asking for you. She has a family which hasn't helped her in all this time, but I don't care what happened in the past, _now_ she needs you!" she snapped. She cut herself immediately when she realized that she had spoken too much. She was practically panting because of the irritation, but she wouldn't be surprised if he hung up the phone. A complete stranger had just given him what was probably the lecture of his life about his personal issues and he had the whole right in the world to send her to hell.

However, when a couple of minutes had passed and she hadn't got any response yet, Beth steeled and talked again.

"Mr. Dixon, you there?"

"What do you want me to do?" he asked quickly, in a much lower voice than before. Beth felt secretly proud of being able to placate a bit of his bad temper.

"You could be with her, make her company. I can't be with her all day and I don't like her being alone. You don't have to talk much, she's usually medicated" she explained, a little more calmed.

"There aren't nurses to take care of her?"

"As I said" she started, "your mom has had some… behavior problems. It's not like there are lots of nurses willing to take care of her. That's why I thought that maybe, if she saw some familiar faces, her state would improve".

Daryl stayed silent a few seconds more.

"When?"

"Tomorrow afternoon suits you? At five o'clock?" she heard a grunt that she interpreted as a 'yes, five is okay', "We'll see tomorrow then. Goodbye, Mr. Dixon".

She wasn't surprised when the call ended and he hadn't said goodbye. It wasn't like he had been exactly charming during their conversation, but at least he had accepted to go, and that was a huge step forward.

Beth leaned further into the back of the sofa and took the old photo of her pocket, running her thumb over the baby's face.

"What happened to you? She asked out loud.


	2. Encounter

Beth spent the rest of the day looking nervously at the clock in the common room. She had never been the type of person that snaps and is mean to anyone: that wasn't the way she had been raised, and especially wasn't her character. However, that man seemed to have the ability to get on her nerves. Beth had been taught to never make assumptions about someone, especially if she barely knew them, and based on that, she should had bitten her tongue when she had talked with mister Dixon. She _did_ know Mrs. Dixon, though, or at least, that was what she wanted to believe. And every day, when she smiled the slightest or seemed to be more animated, Beth couldn't help but wonder who could be so cruel to left behind someone so hurt, as if she was a burden.

Finally, after walking around the nursing home, the clock struck five o'clock, and practically in that instant, the door opened. In that moment Beth was bent down, looking for the file of one of the residents with the spoon of her yogurt in her mouth, and when she stood up she hit her head with on side of the counter. She hissed in pain and when she stuck up, rubbing her head with one hand and holding the spoon with the other, she saw a man entirely dressed on black looking at her with a frown. Beth flushed suddenly, her eyes wide. That man was attractive. No. He was _gorgeous._ He was the kind of man who Lori and Rosita would stare at as soon as he turned around. He had long, dark hair which slightly hid his eyes, but that didn't stop the feeling of those blue daggers piercing her.

She blinked, and realizing that she should do something, she dropped the spoon on the counter and cleared her throat, trying to recover some of her professionalism (and dignity):

"Hello!" she said, bringing a smile to her face, "Mr. Dixon?"

He nodded, but stayed silent. Beth exited the office and approached him to give him a quick and firm handshake. She was surprised to feel that, even though he had rough and calloused hands, he didn't have an unpleasant feel at all. She withdrew her hand immediately, mortified by the thoughts that she was having in that moment and she hurried to change the direction of her ramblings to avoid the blush that was seizing her face again.

"This way, please" she said, gesturing to the aisles that leaded to the rooms. The man didn't say anything, but Beth heard his footsteps cushioned in the carpet, following her. She swallowed, angry with herself for feeling so shy suddenly, and she almost made a mistake and knocked in the wrong door.

 _Calm down_ , she said to herself.

She knocked softly on room 412's door and stuck the head out the door, as always.

"Mrs. Dixon?" she said, smiling, "I brought you a surprise".

She opened the door slowly before she gestured Daryl to come in. The man stared at her for a few moments before he obeyed, and once they were both inside, Beth stood there, not knowing what to do. Should she stay, should she leave? A part of her, the sensible one, screamed her to leave, that she had nothing to do there, but she felt unable to unpin her feet and turn around, so she stayed in the entry, observing the scene.

Daryl wasn't a very tall man, but he occupied much of the space of the small room. Besides, his aspect contrasted greatly with the clarity of the room. Beth looked at his vest, with the draw of two wings in its back. She wondered if he belonged to some bikers club. If Shane was telling the truth –and the agent had no reason to lie to her- he probably was.

Then, he turned around and gazed at her intently, and Beth felt infinitely tiny.

"Do you want me to…?" she asked with a small voice, but he shrugged and she sighed. Mrs. Dixon was looking through the window, as usual, practically absent to anything else, "Sometimes she needs a little chat to… come to".

"I dunno what to say" he muttered, returning his gaze to the old woman.

"Maybe…" she started, but stopped. It was obvious that they had been apart from years and the reason had been absence of will more than anything else, and an emotional reencounter wasn't an option. So they'd have to break the ice slowly.

She approached Mrs. Dixon's bed and took her hand slightly, which provoked her to flinch. At least it was something.

"Mrs. Dixon" she called her name again, "your son is here".

The woman didn't move for seconds that seemed like hours. Beth held her breath the whole time until finally, the old lady turned her head and scanned Beth, with those penetrating blue eyes that her son had inherited.

"Son" she whispered.

"Yeah, he's your son, Daryl. See?" Beth encouraged her, gesturing to behind her shoulder, where Daryl was awkwardly standing in the middle of the room. Beth tried to smile him softly, "Please, come closer".

Daryl stayed still for a moment before he walked the steps that separated him from his mom. However, just before he was going to get to Beth, he stopped again. Beth turned around to look at him, confused. His jaw was tense and he seemed to look everywhere except her or the old woman that was lying on the bed. And suddenly, without saying a word, he spun around and exited at full speed.

Beth glanced at Mrs. Dixon one more time before she followed him through the aisle. Fortunately, the old lady was so medicated that she'd probably believe she was dreaming. Beth quickened her pace until she reached him on the entry, putting herself in front of the door.

"Mr. Dixon, wait!" she exclaimed, breathless, "Please, don't leave".

"I have to go back to the city" he growled, his glare fixed on the door behind Beth, "I've got nothing to do here".

"That's not true" she protested, "Your mom needs you".

"She doesn't even know who I am", he countered harshly. Beth felt small for the second time that afternoon, but she didn't quail. She had worked too hard to find him to just let him go without fight.

"Of course she knows. She remembers you, and your brother Merle, but she thinks she's imagining it. She just needs a little bit of time. Time and patience", she added.

"Just the two things that I don't have" Daryl answered, almost grunting. Beth exhaled sharply.

"Listen, sir", she said, starting to get pissed, "I have no idea what happened between you two, but whatever it was is over now. She isn't the same. You can't blame her for something that she probably doesn't even remember" she finished, staring at him, trying to fix her eyes with his. When they finally did, she saw rage, frustration, and the glimpse of something that Beth tried to decipher, unsuccessfully. She tried to reassure him in everything she had just told him, but he didn't seem willing to collaborate.

"Beth, the boiler is still broken and the technical, that jackass, says that-" Rosita appeared from a corner, and she stopped immediately when she saw Beth trying to prevent the passage of a man twice her height. Beth looked away for just a second, but it was enough to allow him to run away.

Before she could react, he had left on his huge bike, hidden by a cloud of dust.

* * *

Two days later, while Beth was trying to decide between being healthy and eating a cereal bar or send sensibility to hell and eat a Mars bar, she heard a roar outside. At first she thought that she was hallucinating, but then, when she withdrew from the old vending machine and looked through the window, she saw him. He was getting off his bike, and before she could realize, he was already entering through the door. She turned her head violently to see him come in, and then he saw her standing there, scanning him from top to bottom.

"What are you doing here?" she asked when she had approached him. Daryl shrugged.

"The other day I heard your partner saying that you needed someone to fix up the boiler. I can do it" he just said, shrugging again when she looked at him questioningly. But then Beth smiled, so widely that her cheeks hurt.

"That's really nice of you" she said softly, "I'll go talk to my boss. Please, sit down" and she gestured to one of the rickety chairs of the entry, at the same time that she turned on her heel. She had to stop herself from trotting while she searched Lori. She wasn't going to tell that to her bosses. They'd end up scolding her about involving herself with patients' relatives and the last thing she needed was to be fired. Her salary was low enough and she didn't want to be unemployed.

Lori listened to her in silence while she explained all in a hurry. Once she had finished, the woman raised her eyebrows and leaned in to see Daryl, sitting on the edge of the chair, with his elbows resting on his knees and fiddling with his fingers, before she turned around to look questioningly to Beth. She flushed.

"It's not what you think" she clarified.

"Mm-mm" Lori answered.

"It isn't" Beth insisted, "He's Mrs. Dixon's son".

"He's the hottest relative that has entered these gates" Rosita said while she came in the room. Lori looked at her with a frown.

"Do you always have to say things like that?" the woman asked.

"Do you always have to be so bossy?" Rosita countered quickly. Lori opened her mouth to retort, but she was interrupted by Beth.

"So, is it okay with you?" Beth asked. Lori sighed.

"Yeah, of course, I'm the first one who wants to have hot water, but do me a favor and don't let Jensen see him or he'll kill us both".

"Got it" Beth assured with a smile before she walked back to the entry.

Daryl was still there, with his gaze fixed on his hands, and he lifted his head when he heard her coming.

"My boss says everything's alright" she said.

"Alright" Daryl answered; "I'll pick up the tools" Beth nodded and waited for him to come back.

Five minutes later, while she led him to the boiler room, nervousness was starting to affect her. She had only went there twice since she had first started working on the nursing home, and she was always in a hurry, trying to avoid running into the cockroaches that lived happily there. Beth didn't feel an excessive antipathy towards insects, but cockroaches were something that she just couldn't stand.

They'd been there for a while, and Beth was constantly shifting her weight from one foot to the other, watching him work, passing him tools every now and then, and Daryl didn't miss the nervous looks that the girl was sending everywhere.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, it's just…" she swallowed, embarrassed, "I don't really like cockroaches".

Daryl let out a chuckle – deep, husky and almost guttural- and Beth shivered. She inspired sharply and contained herself to not deflate like a balloon.

"They're not my favorite either" he answered, his gaze fixed on his task, "Finished".

"Thank you so much" she said immediately, "How much?"

"Nothing" he responded, but Beth shook her head.

"No, seriously, how much is it?"

"I don't do it for the money" Daryl countered.

"Then why?"

Daryl stared at her and stayed silent, looking down at the floor. Beth took a couple seconds to understand.

"Just time and patience" Beth repeated quietly.

"How much time?" he asked, without daring to look at her.

Beth shrugged.

"As much as she needs to come back" she just murmured. Neither of them said anything for a few seconds, until Beth broke the silence, "We should go back upstairs".

Daryl made a sound of agreement, and followed her upstairs, back to the first floor. Beth accompanied him to the door, not wanting to pressure him to see his mom if he didn't feel ready.

"Wait a sec" she stopped him, grabbing him by his sleeve. She ran towards the break room and pulled out a few coins from his pocket, introducing them into the vending machine and taking out the wrapped chocolate before she came back to the door, "If you won't let me pay you, at least let me give you this".

Daryl watched the chocolate with an incredulous look. He looked at her then, but she just smiled softly.

"Thanks" he grunted.

"Thank _you"_ , Beth answered. Their fingers touched for an instant when she passed him the chocolate, and in that moment an electric current ran through her. She couldn't help but squeeze his hand, and she felt very embarrassed, but she didn't blush. When she lifted her head, he seemed more uncomfortable than her, though.

"Goodbye, Mr. Dixon" she told him.

"Goodbye…"

"Beth. Beth Greene"

"Goodbye, Nurse Greene", he said, piercing her one more time with those steely blue eyes before he left.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thanks for reading and please review!


	3. Reduction

**A/N:** Thanks to the amazing Jen for editing this for me! Of course, neither TWD universe or its characters are mine, but its creator Robert Kirkman.

* * *

Beth was organizing medicine boxes when Rosita appeared at full speed like a stampeding buffalo, throwing Beth straight into the inside of the cabinet.

"Beth, you're not gonna believe-"

"Wait, wait" Beth interrupted her, trying to get out of the deathtrap her friend had put her in. She dropped the medicine boxes she was carrying on a shelf and turned around to listen to her, "Okay, _now"._

"It's too much!" Rosita exclaimed, enraged, "You have to see this!"

Beth realized Rosita had a paper on her hand. She took it and started reading, frowning more and more as she advanced.

 _Esteemed employees:_

 _Due to the lack of resources and the difficult situation we're going through right now, we've been forced to reduce work hours to eliminate expenses. In the following days we will be informing you about your new schedules and shifts._

 _Thank you in advance for your collaboration and your invaluable work._

 _Dawn Lerner, Director of Rosewood Retirement Centre_

"Can you believe it?" Rosita said as soon as Beth lifted her head from the paper, "This shit was hung up everywhere this morning. _Thanks for your invaluable work_?" Rosita huffed, "So invaluable that we've hardly seen a cent for months".

"So what now?" Beth asked, "I need to work more hours".

"So do I" Rosita answered, "How do they think we live? Eating air?"

Beth let out a shaky breath, lowering her gaze to the sheet again, rereading those lines over and over again, as if that would magically change the words on it.

"You know what?" said Rosita suddenly, "We should talk to Dawn".

"There's no use in it" both women turned around when they heard Lori, who was entering with a box. She dropped it noisily on the floor and started dusting off her hands, "I just talked to her".

"And?" Rosita encouraged her after a few seconds of silence.

"And" she continued, "She's told me that 'we all have to make sacrifices for the greater good'"

"Fuck her!"

"Rosita!" Lori and Beth exclaimed, the latter spinning around to check that no one else had heard that, "That could cost you your job!"

"My job!? This is slavery, come on", Rosita replied, her hands on her hips, "They don't pay us, they change our shifts whenever they want to, and now they tell us that this bullshit is for our own good. It's for the powerful people's sake, like our _dear_ director. I'm sure she doesn't have any trouble making it through the month. Let's see how long it takes them to start firing people".

Suddenly, Lori burst into tears, burying her face in her hands. Beth and Rosita looked at each other, alarmed, before they hurried to hold her, as if she was going to fall at any time.

"Lori, calm down, I didn't mean it" Rosita corrected herself, "everything's going to be fine"

"Nothing's going to be fine" Lori shook her head, "I'm sure they'll fire me".

"What are you talking about?" Beth said, "You're the one who's keeping this place running, Lori, even Dawn knows that".

Lori shook her head again, and dropped her hands to her sides.

"I'm pregnant" and she started sobbing again. Her partners looked at each other again, this time confused.

"But that's good news, Lori" Beth comforted her, smiling, "That's great actually".

"How long do you think Dawn will take to fire me? They hardly pay us at all, why would they pay me maternity leave?"

"That's illegal", Rosita countered firmly, "They'd be in trouble if they fired you because of that. Besides, if they have to fire anyone, it would be me. We all know you'd work more in a day being eight months-pregnant than I do in two weeks".

Lori started laughing nervously, and even Beth giggled, relaxing the atmosphere instantly.

"I still have coffee in my thermos", Beth said, "Let's take a cup and we calm down a bit, okay?"

"God, hurry up" Rosita urged her, pressing Lori's back softly to make her walk, "With this shitty coffee machine, it's been weeks since the last time I drank a decent cup of coffee".

"They're not even able to do that" Lori added, but this time in a humorous tone as they walked down the aisle. Beth intertwined her arm with Lori's and Rosita did the same.

"Well, we can always ask Beth to call her friend the handy hottie" Rosita said teasingly.

Both women turned her heads to look at Beth with a mischievous grin.

"Stop" she protested, blushing, "He's a patient's son".

"And what a son" Lori sighed, "I wouldn't even mind having Mrs. Dixon as my in law".

"Enough" Beth muttered, blushing.

"No mothers-in-law for me, thanks," Rosita said mischievously, "just me and him. I'd show him one hell of a good time."

"STOP!" Beth whined, mortified, before her partners started laughing scandalously. Beth was the youngest of them and yet sometimes she felt like she was the adult and her friends the high school teenagers. Just like she did in that moment.

* * *

Three days later, Beth was leaving the supermarket carrying two bags in one hand and the receipt in the other. Her forehead wrinkled every time she had to read that damn paper. That morning she had sat down to do math and write carefully a list of essential things she should buy. Just the necessities, she had said. But then she discovered than half of her cabinets and her fridge were practically empty. So the list started growing and growing, until finally she ended up doing the purchase of the week like she was preparing for the apocalypse.

Fortunately, on Friday she'd _finally_ receive her month's pay. That didn't mean that the nursing home didn't owe her two months of delays anymore, but at least she'd have money for another thirty days. Thirty days without sweating every time a letter from the bank or some bill arrived.

A day will come when that problem would occur again, most likely sooner rather than later, but that day wasn't today.

And Beth wasn't going to spend her day worrying herself about next month.

She stopped at a traffic light as she saved the receipt in her jacket pocket. She took one of the bags in her free hand to distribute the load and her gaze started wandering down the street, until she noticed the magnificent bike that was parked in front sidewalk. In her hometown, a thing like that would have been main theme of conversation for at least three days, but there, in a bigger town, it was nothing special.

However, it was still an object of admiration. The kind of machine for which her brother would have sighed like a schoolgirl in love.

The street light turned green and she crossed. She didn't even know why she stopped beside that beast with wheels, but sunlight made it shine like a dark diamond and it was almost _inviting._

No sooner had she lifted a finger to touch it when she heard a throat clearing that made her turn around sharply.

"Mr. Dixon" she panted, moving her hand away in a sudden. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She'd be lying if she said that she hadn't thought about him at all. In fact, she did. Every single day. Every time she went into his mother's room, when she saw those blue eyes that were starting to become faded, oblivious to the outside world and that however still seemed to keep a hint of the glint that they had possessed yesteryear. The same glint that now was piercing her.

He looked at her, at the bike, and then at her again questioningly.

"My brother Shawn loves bikes" she felt the need to explain herself, "And this one is… impressive".

She swore she saw a light glow of pride before it faded suddenly.

"And…" he started quietly, "and you?"

"What about me?" Beth blinked, confused.

"Do you like them?" I mean… bikes" he added, almost shyly. Beth wasn't able to understand why he was hiding behind his hair. She was the one that felt anchored to the ground every time he looked at her like that.

It was her turn to shrug.

"Dunno. There weren't lots of bikes like this one in my hometown. Besides, I think my dad would have a heart attack if he saw me riding something like this" she answered with a weak smile. To her surprise, Daryl returned her a smile, in a brief and almost imperceptible way.

They stayed silent for a few seconds more until she dared to ask:

"Do you live around here?"

"Nah" he answered, "I just came to buy some parts".

"Oh, right" Beth felt ridiculous standing there, looking at him. She bit the inside of her cheek, trying to find something to say, "Your mom is fine, but she misses you".

She received a grunt as an answer, and suddenly, the atmosphere turned from lightly awkward to so tense that you could cut it.

"I know you have things to do, and work and things like that" she continued, "but maybe if you talked with your brother you could-"

"My brother isn't around here" he cut her off harshly, "'s just me".

"And do you think you could stop by some day? If you have a day off?"

He shrugged.

"C'mon, just for an hour. I'm sure she'd be so happy to see you" she insisted, smiling. He scratched his head just one second before he glazed at her and nodded, "Really? What about tomorrow?"

Another affirmative grunt. Her smile widened.

"Alright. See you tomorrow, Mr. Dixon" she said, unable to stop smiling. She turned around and started walking again. She almost couldn't hear his voice before she turned the corner.

"See you tomorrow, Greene".

* * *

Beth spent the rest of the day here and there, looking at the clock impatiently, but he didn't appear. She couldn't help it. She spent hours turning her head towards the door, expecting to see him entering, but her disappointment only grew as the day went on and only employees and relatives entered, none of them named Dixon.

It was nearly 10 p.m. Beth was changing her clothes, taking off that old uniform and putting on her real clothes. It was almost like she was changing her skin. She wasn't Nurse Greene anymore, or Greene, she was just Beth, Bethy, Hershel's little daughter who had gone crazy and moved to another town, away from her family to work in a nursing home that was falling apart.

She walked through the silent aisles of the nursing home and she wished the receptionist a good night quietly before she got out. A blow cold air received her, and she huddled even more in her coat.

It was then that she saw him, wrapped up in that leather jacket and that damn vest, leaning against his bike and smoking a cigarette. The cloud of smoke was more visible than he was. The parking lot was dark, with just two lampposts, each one put in one end of the property.

Her feet moved before her brain could stop them. If he acknowledged her approaching him, he didn't give any sign that he did. Instead, he kept smoking, his gaze fixed on the cement beneath his feet.

Beth reached him breathless, panting.

But he remained silent, and she was so fed up.

"I've been waiting for you the whole day", she said, "the whole damn day, checking if you were coming in to see your mother for five goddamn minutes. I had to bite my tongue to not tell her anything, and now I know that was the right thing to do. No mother wants to know that his son makes promises that he can't keep".

She expected Daryl to say something, anything, but he just exhaled another puff of smoke. She sighed.

"I've been working almost twelve hours, and you know what? I'm tired of dealing with you. You're just so selfish. It doesn't matter what I say, right? It doesn't matter that you're a better person than you make yourself out to be. You're going to keep promising that you'll come to get rid of me and then you won't. Well, I won't do this anymore. If you want to see her, you already know where she is. I'm not going to keep chasing you. I won't."

And with that, she turned around and started walking quickly towards the gates, grabbing the strap of her purse more firmly while she walked away.

"I couldn't get in" his voice made her stop short. Slow, very slowly, as if he was setting a trap, Beth spun around.

"You got in the other day without trouble" she answered warily, her fist clenching around the strap.

"I… couldn't" he repeated, lifting his gaze, and Beth understood. Her expression softened, feeling how the tension was leaving her shoulders, and she started walking again, that time towards him.

"You don't have to do it on your own" she said gently, before she raised her hand to brush his arm, "You don't have to press yourself. Bit by bit".

And she smiled weakly, trying to encourage him. Finally, he dared to look at her, relaxing visibly.

"Sorry you waited for me" he grumbled.

"Doesn't matter" she answered, shrugging.

Neither of them said anything for a few moments, just standing there.

"Do you want me to take you home?" he finally asked, motioning to the bike. Beth shook her head, smiling.

"Nah, I'm good. Besides, I like walking" she explained. Daryl nodded.

"Mind if I join you?" the question caught her by surprise. Suddenly, she felt like him, almost mute. She couldn't do anything but shake her head.

They walked in silence, with the far sounds of some car in the background. Beth didn't dare to look at him and he didn't say anything. She felt almost like she was sixteen again, shy and unable to open her mouth to say something useful.

"You been living here for long?" he asked her, surprising her for the fifteenth time that night. Beth startled, not expecting to hear his voice.

"What?"

"Yesterday you said that…" Beth marveled at how shy he was, "that in your town my bike would have been talked about. Did you move long ago?"

"Oh" Beth said, understanding, and she nodded, "No, in a few months it will be a year. I had good luck, actually, finding work as soon as I finished college".

He made a sound that she interpreted as a "right".

"And you don't have to call me nurse or Greene" she clarified, "I'm just Beth".

Daryl nodded.

"Same for you" he muttered. Beth smiled, "You like working in the nursing home?"

"I love it" she answered immediately, "Everyone always told me that I should be a teacher or a child care worker, because they say I'm good with kids, but the elderly are really interesting people. They have lots of things to teach us. Do you like your job?"

Daryl took a couple of seconds to answer.

"It's okay" he finally said, "just fix things, nothing permanent".

"Well you're really good at it, judging by how you fixed the boiler" she responded, smiling. He shrugged again.

"It's nothing"

"Yeah it is" she countered, without stopping smiling. He didn't answer and Beth took it as a small victory.

They kept walking in a comfortable silence until they reached the doorway of her apartment building. Beth took more time than usual to take out her keys.

"Thank you so much for walking me home" she thanked him, "it was nice of you".

"It's nothing" he said again, and she laughed.

"By the way", she said suddenly, remembering, "what are you going to do with the bike?"

He looked at her an instant before he smiled lightly.

"I'm sure you can watch it until I come back" he said, with such a deep voice that Beth felt goose bumps running through her.

"Okay" she whispered breathlessly.

"Good night, Beth".

"Good night, Daryl".

She felt her legs trembling as soon as he turned around and started walking away from her, as if she didn't have to keep anchored to the ground. She panted slightly when he spun around again, just an instant to look at her, and turned immediately.

And when he had turned the corner, and only then, she allowed herself to giggle.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thanks for reading and please review!


	4. Coffee machines

**A/N:** Thanks to my wonderful friend Jen for editing this for me! Of course, neither TWD universe or its characters are mine, but its creator Robert Kirkman.

* * *

Beth spent another two days without any word from Daryl. She said to herself that it was silly to think so much about someone who probably remembered her as a bother, but she couldn't help it: his Triumph was still parked out there, shining almost aggressively.

It wasn't until the third day while she was having coffee with Alexis when he turned up in the entry. She raised her sight from the cup and stared at him, maybe for too long or maybe just enough to make him shift his weight from one leg to another nervously. She hurried to stand up when she realized his awkwardness and smiled at him.

"Hi" she greeted him, trying not to sound too nervous.

"I just came to pick up the bike and…" he started, but his voice starting fading slowly, until he stopped talking altogether, scrubbing his head distractedly.

"Oh," Beth answered, almost breathless. She swallowed and smiled again, "You must have been busy, right?"

He raised an eyebrow, confused.

"I mean, it took you three days in picking it up and" she cleared her throat, feeling stupid, "well, you know" she finalized, bowing her head.

 _Bravo, Beth,_ she thought, _and what do you care about how much he took to pick it up or why? And why did you keep count?_

"I went hunting" he explained, and she raised her head, surprised.

"You hunt?" he nodded, "Wow. Are you good at it?"

Daryl shrugged and she sighed, relieved that he hadn't sent her to hell for being nosy.

"Well" she cleared her throat again, "do you want to come in to-"

He cut her off by shaking his head sharply and took a step backwards. Beth almost took one forward, but she contained herself.

"Okay, alright" she added quickly, raising both hands as if that could calm him. He looked at her for almost a minute until the tension left his shoulders.

They stayed silent for a while. Finally, he broke the silence.

"I should go" he grunted, and she couldn't do anything more than nod. It was not like she really wanted him to leave, but what could she do to avoid it?

Daryl had just turned when a woman's voice made them both spin around:

"Hey, you!" she exclaimed, and Beth observed, dumbfounded, how Rosita approached him with shamelessly and reached him, "You're Beth's friend, right?"

"Rosita" Beth hissed, but she ignored her. Daryl stared at her, like he couldn't quite believe that she was talking to him, until he nodded.

"Beth told me you fix things" Daryl nodded again, "How much do you charge for fixing coffee machines?"

"Coffee machines" he repeated, as if he didn't understand.

"Yeah, coffee machines" Rosita affirmed, putting her hands on her hips, "You know those machines which make coffee and are so practical-"

"I know what a coffee machine is" he grunted, interrupting her.

"Then, could you?" she asked again, "We've spent weeks without having decent coffee and Beth says you're good at your job".

Daryl looked at her and Beth wished the earth would swallow her.

"I haven't-"

"Yes or no?" Rosita insisted. Daryl seemed to think about it for a moment, and after looking at Beth one more time, he nodded, "Okay, perfect. Beth, take him to the break room".

And without further ado, she left, leaving them both alone in the entry. Beth didn't know who was more perturbed by that intromission from Rosita, but she knew who was blushing more. She felt like she was going to explode any second.

"I have the tools in the truck" he muttered after an instant, and she nodded energetically. He came back two minutes later, bringing a small tool box, and Beth guided him through one of the aisles to the break room where the rickety machine was.

Beth observed him working in silence. He didn't need more than two minutes to turn around.

"'s the thermal fuse" he said.

"Oh" she answered as if she had understood. He made a little gesture with his hand and she approached, maybe too eagerly to see what he was indicating her.

"Do you see that one that's marking?" he asked, and she nodded, "One is same as infinite. That means the thermal fuse is cut off".

"Can you fix it?"

Daryl uttered an affirmative mutter.

"We have to replace it with another one, but this machine is too old. It probably has more things broken, and a thermal fuse that fits won't be cheap. It would be better to just buy another coffee machine rather than fix this".

"Yeah, I don't think my boss will be glad to hear that…" Beth sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"I have a few. I can try them if you want, but I can't assure you this shit won't break again when you try to turn it on" he said softly, and she looked at him.

"No, don't bother" Beth smiled, smiling, "I'll talk to my colleague, she always listens to her".

"Your boss doesn't like spending money too much, does she?" Daryl asked while he put the ohmmeter in the box. Beth wrinkled her nose and shrugged.

"Money is always scarce here" Beth explained, passing him the cover of the circuit so he could put it back, "It's not like I've been working here for a long time, but we don't get much money. We do what we can though" she added in a lighter tone, "We don't need a fortune. We just need people willing to take care of the elderly".

And she smiled, trying to lighten a subject that she didn't quite like. She had spent the whole day thinking about the fact that she had to pay another instalment on her car, and about how she was going to convince her landlord to give her three more days.

"Thank you so much for checking it" she told him, "How much?"

Daryl huffed.

"I'm not gonna charge you anything for putting two cables together and looking at a number".

"At least let me pay you for the time you've lost today. I'm sure you had jobs to do".

"Not many" he grunted.

"Beth, can you come? It will be just a moment" Lori appeared and Beth nodded.

"Sure. Can you wait for me?" Beth asked, and Daryl grunted something that wasn't a yes nor a no, but more like a "if you want". Anyway, she was satisfied and exited the room, just to be crashed immediately against a wall. Beth emitted a whimper.

"What. Are. You. Doing!?" Lori and Rosita had cornered her, each one in one of her sides. Beth hissed when she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder, and started rolling it in order to try to alleviate it.

"What are you talking about?" she protested.

"Beth Ann Greene, I had to ask the handy hottie to fix the coffee machine for us" Rosita whispered, "Why do you think I did it?"

"Maybe because it's broken and you're a coffee addict?" Beth suggested, but she muted when she saw the gaze the woman gave her.

"So you could fuck him" Rosita exclaimed, and Beth covered Rosita's mouth with her hand immediately.

"Don't say things like that out loud!" she hissed, furious, "Besides, it's not… it's not like that".

Lori raised an eyebrow.

"For God's sake, but have you seen him?" Lori said, lowering her voice to a sensible volume.

"Of course I've seen him" Beth countered, blushing, "but it's not professional. He's a patient's son".

"It's not like there are any rules against it" retorted the oldest of the women.

"You're not going to sleep with a patient, just with her son" Rosita snorted, receiving a poke in her ribs.

"Could you shut up?" Beth asked, mortified. She closed her eyes and sighed, "Fine, I like him. So what?"

"So you have to do something, honey, or he'll leave" Lori said softly.

"I don't know what to do to make him stay".

"Anything" Rosita emphasized, "but don't let him go".

And with that, they threw her back to the break room, with such enthusiasm that she practically crashed against Daryl's chest. She wobbled, and her body got ready for the imminent fall, until she felt Daryl was holding her.

"Sorry, sorry" she muttered, leaning against his chest momentarily. She moved away instantly, clearing her throat.

"You ok?" he grunted, and Beth nodded, without being able to look at his face.

"I wasn't paying attention" she justified herself, trying to placate the flush. God, wasn't she going to stop blushing like she was thirteen?

"Well, I'm done. I should go" he said, and she nodded, dying of embarrassment. She saw the looks that her friends were sending her along the aisle, gesturing at her-Lori in a normal way, Rosita, in a quite more censurable one- and Beth's eyes widened, waving her hand beside her neck to say "enough".

When they reached the entry, Beth was so incredibly nervous. She didn't want him to go, but she didn't know what to tell him either, and suddenly she felt like every eye was on them. She wouldn't be surprised in the least if Rosita had been divulging a rumor that they had hooked up around the nursing home.

"Thanks again" she said, trying to smile without having her lips' corners shaking.

"'S nothing" he answered, "Bye".

He had not taken two steps towards the exit when her hands closed strongly around his forearm. As soon as he turned around, Beth dropped her hands, shocked by the fact that she had been able to do that.

"Uh, I…" she stuttered, "it's just I think a thank you is not… enough for everything that you've done for us".

"I jus' plugged two cables in a machine".

"And the boiler-"

"I just moved shit around"

"Anyway" she cut him off, trying to spill it before her bravery attack faded again, "I'd like to thank you personally. D'you wanna grab coffee some time?"

Time seemed to stretch like gum. Her heart was beating so fast while she waited for his answer that she wouldn't have been surprised if he could have heard it.

"I mean…" she started again, this time in a barely audible mutter, "only if you want, of course. It's not like you have to or anything, because you know, I don't want you to-"

"Okay" he grunted, and she raised her head, shocked.

"Yeah?" she searched for his confirmation, and he made an affirmative sound. The smile that surged in that instant was so wide that she thought she would get some muscle in her face injured, "Alright, then… Do I call you on the number that-?"

"We could go now" he interrupted her abruptly, and Beth was speechless again.

"Now? But umm, I don't know if I have free time, and-"

"For God's sake, Beth, leave! I'll cover you!" Rosita's scream resounded through the nursing home's walls, and that time, every eye turned towards Daryl and Beth, but for real. Beth felt like she could die of embarrassment.

She closed her eyes, mortified, but when she opened them she found that Daryl was just as or even more embarrassed than her, with his cheeks burning red. And in that moment, she couldn't help but laugh softly, and she couldn't help either that her heart skipped a beat when she saw that he was smiling mildly.

"Let's go" she panted, nervous, and he opened the door, letting her pass first.

* * *

They'd been sitting in that small café for five minutes, each one with their sight fixed in the cup in front of them, without saying a word. Beth was grabbing the chair sharply, and Daryl seemed pretty interested in his thumb nail.

"So…" she started, "are you self-employed?"

Daryl grunted a yes.

"How do you know so much about those things?"

"I don't know _so much_ " Daryl shrugged, "it's just things I've been pickin up".

"I'd like to be able to do it" she admitted, grinning, "I'm a mess using my hands for anything else besides playing instruments".

"What do you play?" he asked her with genuine curiosity.

"Guitar and piano" Beth answered, biting the inside of her cheek, "My mom taught me to play the piano when I was little, and my brother Shawn taught me how to play the guitar. In my house music's always been pretty important. What about you?"

"Not in mine" he said harshly, "we used to have an old turntable, but it broke. I just listened to the shitty music from the old jukeboxes in bars".

"Oh" Beth muttered, "And what do you like to do?"

"Dunno" he said.

"Don't 'dunno'" she countered, imitating his tone in a very successful way. He raised his sight and looked at her with both eyebrows raised, half amused. She blushed softly, "Tell me".

"Don't do much. Hunting. Riding my bike and…" he shrugged again, "That's all, really".

"Don't you like your job?"

"I have to deal with a lotta people" he admitted, "And most of them are idiots who think they know everything".

Beth giggled.

"That happens in the nursing home too. Relatives blame you for everything that happens. I'm still not used to the shouting part".

"I don't usually let them shout at me" he said, and her smile faded. Of course not. She was a tiny woman, the youngest nurse and the one who looked the most naïve. An easy target. Daryl was a man who looked able to break the neck of anyone who tried to make him lose his temper.

She switched the subject.

"When'd you learn to hunt?"

"When I's a kid".

"Your daddy teach you?" she asked innocently, but he tensed instantly. She saw it in the way his eyes narrowed and he leaned against his chair, like he wanted to shut off. She wondered what had she said. Did he have a hard relationship with his dad too?

"Yeah" he murmured, and she felt bad for no reason.

"We should go back" Daryl said suddenly, standing up. Beth followed him, still confused, and he paid despite her weak protests which fell on deaf ears as soon as he got out, as he was almost running away from her. They walked in silence the rest of the way.

When they reached the entry, he stood there, awkward, and she lifted her head.

"I'm sorry about before" she tried to apologize.

"Didn't do anything wrong" he excused her, but Beth shook her head.

"It's obvious that your family it's not your favorite subject" Beth answered, trying to sound casual and smiling softly, "So, sorry. I won't mention it again".

Neither of them said anything for an instant, until he raised his eyebrows.

" _Again_?" he said in a humorous tone. Beth grinned.

"Well, now it's my turn to invite you, right?" she played along. Daryl returned her a smile very lightly, but enough to make her nervous, "I call you on number from before?"

"Yeah" Daryl affirmed.

"Okay" Beth whispered, "Bye, Daryl".

He nodded and turned around. Beth stood there until he disappeared. She released the breath she had been holding and entered the nursing home on shaky legs.

She instantly found all of her partners clustered in the entry, dissipating as soon as she entered, dissimulating in the worst way possible.

Everyone… except Rosita, who smiled openly, without trying to hide the fact that she had been spying on her, and whistled.

"Very well, Greene. You're improving" she said, approaching Beth until they were just inches away, "But…"

She raised her hand and pinched her breast quickly over her bra, making her jump.

"…I have to lend you something to emphasize your charms".

Beth thought she would end up fainting if her blood kept rushing to her face so many times in a single day.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thanks for reading and please review!


	5. Crush

**A/N:** Thanks a lot to my wonderful friend Jen for editing this for me. Of course, neither TWD universe or its characters are mine, but its creator Robert Kirkman.

* * *

Beth woke up suddenly, startled by the incessant noise of the alarm clock. She couldn't help it: her dad always told her that she had a very small heart and that she got startled by anything, so it was common that every morning she almost fell off the bed because of the shock. She turned off the little machine and sat up in her bed, rubbing her eyes tiredly. She had only slept a couple hours and the last thing she wanted was to get up and go to work.

She untangled herself from the mess of sheets in which she was trapped and headed towards the bathroom to have a shower while she hummed quietly. She had never been an energetic person in the mornings, preferring to stay silent and having her coffee calmly while she listened to her siblings chattering, but since she had moved from the farm to the nearest town, she missed the fuss that she had hated for so many years. Because of that, every morning, she would sing quietly or turn on the TV to listen to the newscaster's monologue while she showered. It was a weird habit, but once she acquired it, she couldn't remove it.

She turned the shower on while she kept crooning and took off her clothes. She was letting her hair down from her messy ponytail when the doorbell rang. She decided to ignore it, believing it would be the postman, and she continued, but when the doorbell rang again, this time almost aggressively, Beth took on her bathrobe as fast as she could and went to see who it was.

She needed just a moment to see it and to close the door again sharply.

"Beth, open the fucking door" the man grunted. Her heart was beating at full speed, but she took courage and opened, just to find Len, her landlord, "My money".

"Len, listen, I-"

"No, Beth, you've been fucking with me for too long, you hear me?" Len barked, pushing more at the door to come in. Beth backed and contained a squeak when she felt his eyes scanning her from top to bottom, almost gloating, before he frowned again.

"On Friday they'll pay me and I'll give you every penny, I promise you" she said, covering herself even more, "It's the day after tomorrow. Just two more days and you'll have all your money. I swear, Len, but please, give me a little bit more time".

Len breathed through his nostrils sharply, but with a thoughtful expression.

"A'right" he said finally, "on Friday. If you don't pay me what you owe me, I'll kick you out".

"Okay" Beth sighed. She approached the door again and opened it, "I have to get ready to go to work, so…"

Len walked in a slow and almost hesitant way toward the door, without looking away from her. He stopped and huffed.

"It's a damn shame" he said suddenly.

"What's a shame?" Beth asked quietly.

"You could pay the rent in other ways if you wanted, Bethy" he answered, with a smile that didn't have anything friendly in it.

"Goodbye, Len" she muttered, without any intention of being polite anymore, before she closed the door in his face, and she stepped away from it only when she heard him heading toward the stairs.

She didn't even know how she had been able to bear having Len as her landlord. She had arrived at Newborn and she had discovered that she couldn't afford a single apartment. She was already searching for rooms in rent when Len appeared and offered her his for a more than a moderate price. Beth should have been suspicious then. If there was something that characterized her –and not just her ability to startle- it was how fast she saw through people. And that man had made her uncomfortable since the first day. And it was not just by the lascivious looks with which he delighted her since they met, but also by the way he had to talk, to act. There was something _sinister_ about Len, and Beth didn't like it a single bit.

She sighed, with her heart still beating fast because of the brief encounter, and looked up at the clock.

"Shit!" she exclaimed, running to the shower at a rush. She couldn't take a dismissal right now. She had to get by until Friday.

* * *

"…and I don't know what is wrong with him lately, it's like he was mad at me for something. He wouldn't look at me, or talk to me, or even touch me, he goes to work so early and he comes back late at night… sometimes I wonder if he's changed his mind and he doesn't want to have the baby".

"I'm sure he's just afraid, it's normal, all men are when their woman gets pregnant".

"You don't even have children" Lori countered. Rosita shrugged.

"So what? I don't need to get married to know, all men are the same. How could he not want to have a baby with you? He should thank you that you're puking every morning."

Lori started laughing and Rosita raised her eyebrows when she noticed Beth, with her head bowed and staring at the table.

"Earth to Beth" Rosita waved a hand in front of her face and Beth raised her head, "What's wrong?"

"Huh?" she blinked, "Oh, nothing, it's just I couldn't sleep last night".

"Right. And how are you doing with Mrs. Dixon's son?" Lori said.

"Who?" Rosita asked, confused.

"The handy hottie" both Beth and Lori answered at unison, and the latter turned around to looked at her with a mischievous smile. Beth flushed.

"It's just she always call him that…" she explained.

"Well, and what else? Have you met again? Come on, tell us" Rosita demanded, leaning even more into her. Beth shrugged and stared at the table again. The little sound that both women did made her frown.

"What?"

"You didn't call him" Lori asseverated, leaning in her chair.

"Really, I don't know what you're playing at, Beth" Rosita continued, shaking her head, "Seriously, how many guys do you think appear every day through this door? You're the one who was staring at him all the time. You can't just give up _now_ ".

"I haven't _given up_ on him," Beth protested, "but I looked for him to make sure Mrs. Dixon wasn't expelled, not to…"

"…fuck him?" Rosita finished.

"Shh" Beth silenced her immediately, covering her mouth, "Could you stop saying the f word out loud? What if Dawn turns up, or Doctor Jensen?"

"Maybe they'd have a heart attack. Who knows how long they've been without getting laid." Rosita commented nonchalantly. Lori looked at Beth with a resigned expression, and then stood up and grabbed Rosita by her arm.

"C'mon, we have watch in the dining room. And you", she added, pointing at Beth, "call him now, or I promise you I will".

Beth took her threat seriously. Lori could be pretty intimidating when she tried to be, and if there was an adjective able to describe that woman perfectly was "decided". She always got what she planned, so Beth was convinced that Daryl would receive a call sooner or later, and she said to herself that it was better that she was the one who made that call.

She repeated to herself that the reason she was doing this was to avoid Lori calling him while she headed towards the rooms of the elderly to clean up while they were having lunch. When she got to room 412, she wasn't surprised to find Mrs. Dixon lying in her bed, looking through the window, as usual. She hardly ever had meals with the rest of the elderly, so Beth used to bring her food to make sure she ate something.

"Good morning, Mrs. Dixon" she said as every morning while she opened more the curtains and relocated her pillows carefully, "How are you feeling today?"

The woman didn't answer, and Beth stopped herself from sighing. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and started tidying up the few things that the old woman had in her room. She saw that there was something in the floor, and when she bent down, she found the picture of Mrs. Dixon with her two children. She reread the inscription: _Merle and Daryl, March 3_ _rd_ _, 1980_ and looked again at the child with dark hair who seemed to be trying to eat his own fist.

She couldn't help to gasp when she felt the shaky hand of Mrs. Dixon grabbing her uniform. She was staring at her intently and she seemed to be trying to tell her something. Beth dropped the picture immediately in her bedside table and held her hand.

"Tell me, what's wrong? Do you want water?" she raised her hand to the glass beside her bed, but the old woman shook her head, "Are you not feeling well? Do you want me to get the doctor?"

The lady's lips wavered for a few instants that seemed eternal to Beth, who was preparing herself to go get the doctor, until finally Mrs. Dixon's vocal chords emitted a weak sound.

"My…my bo-boy…"

"Your boy? You mean your son, right?" she asked softly, relaxing. The old woman nodded with great effort.

"My boy… I want my boy" her hand found Beth's forearm and squeezed it with a surprising strength for her age. Beth omitted the pain that extended through her arm when she felt Mrs. Dixon's nails digging in her flesh and approached her, "Bring him to me, bring me my boy…

"I'll call him, okay, Mrs. Dixon? I'll call him and he'll come to see you" she promised her, squeezing her hand back softly. Suddenly, the woman's eyes seemed to be floating in a haze and she dropped her forearm. Mrs. Dixon rolled to her side and stared at the wall in front of her, as if that conversation had never taken place.

"My good boy" she murmured before she was gone. Beth watched her, hoping to see any other reaction, but it was obvious that Mrs. Dixon had said everything she had to.

Beth sighed and covered her with the sheet carefully, leaving one of her favorite magazines in her bedside table in case she came back and got nervous. She exited the room and kept working, this time without being able to forget Daryl. She had to call him. She knew it perfectly. She had to do it for poor Mrs. Dixon, to avoid her expel, to avoid Lori taking action –or worse, Rosita- and calling him and making a fool of her, to improve the old lady's state…

Calling him was the solution to all her problems.

But then, why did she feel like her heart was going to jump out of her chest while she dialed his number and waited for him to answer?

"Yeah?" his voice received her and suddenly her legs felt shaky again. She wanted to huff before the absurd of the situation, having a crush on a man much older than her with whom had talked only three times. She felt like when she was fourteen and sighed with her friends when they ran into older boys, "Who is this?"

She realized she had been a couple seconds in silence and Daryl should be thinking that it was some weirdo calling to breathe profusely and say nothing.

"Hi" she said, maybe too effusively, "I'm Beth Greene, a nurse at Rosewood, where your mother is".

"I know who you are, Beth", _amazing, Greene_ , "something wrong?"

"What? Uh, no. Well, yeah. See, your mom… could you come to see her?"

"Why?"

"Cause she's your mom" she answered automatically, like it was the most natural thing to say. She realized too late that his relationship with his mom wasn't like the one she had with her own mom and continued, "And because she misses you. She asked me about you today".

"Oh yeah?"

"Well, maybe not using those words exactly, but basically yes" she said, lowering her voice.

Daryl didn't say anything for a few seconds, and Beth bit her thumbnail nervously and looked around her to check that no one was gazing at her, as if anyone who walked in right there and saw her talking on the phone would know immediately what was happening.

"A'right" Daryl answered finally, "I have to work, but I'll come at six".

"At six?" she bit her tongue to not gasp when Rosita appeared suddenly behind her and started making mute gestures of "is it him?" Beth nodded quickly and turned her back to Rosita, but she stood in front of her again, "Okay, at six then".

Another grunt, and in that instant, Rosita took the phone and hung it up. Beth looked at her shocked.

"What are you doing?!" she exclaimed, incredulous.

"You have to hang up first, Greene. Rule one" she said, raising a finger to symbolize the number.

"You're crazy" Beth muttered, taking her phone back and putting it in her pocket.

"But I know how to make you get the handy hottie".

"Rosita, I've already told you that I won't fuck him!" Beth exclaimed, provoking her voice to resound throughout the aisle. She thought she would die of embarrassment when Doctor Jensen stepped out of his office and frowned at her.

"Ladies, would you mind leaving your… _private_ conversations for when you get off of work? And please, I'd thank you if you could keep your voice down while you're here" he said, in a disdain-filled tone.

Beth muttered a rushed "sorry" but Rosita just huffed. The doctor's eyes widened, indignant and surprised that someone had dared to defy him, but then Beth took her by her arm and brought her back to the dining room.

"You're so evil-minded" Rosita said suddenly, "I'm doing this for Mrs. Dixon".

Beth snorted.

"You're incredible".

"I know" she countered simply, "Listen; now seriously, you should make sure he stays around here. Not just for his mom, who wants to see him, but also for you. How do you know that you two can't have something else? What have you got to lose?"

"My dignity" Beth answered quietly. She didn't want to imagine what would happen if Daryl ignored her and she had to keep seeing him after.

"I think that after what just happened, you don't have much of that left" Rosita joked, receiving a poke, "Come on, please? Try. For me?" she added, pouting.

Beth had to contain a smile and pretend weariness as she sighed dramatically.

"Well… either way I'd have to do it if I want him to keep visiting his mom" she gave in finally. Rosita made a happy noise and hugged her tightly, before she moved away to look at the clock.

"It's half past two. I'll see you at four in the emergency exit on the back of the nursing home".

"What-?" Beth started, but Rosita had already run away in the other direction. Beth huffed and tucked another strand of hair behind her ear before she kept with her patrol.

* * *

Beth was leaning nervously against the wall near by the emergency exit where she was supposed to meet Rosita, looking at her wristwatch every few minutes. It was ten past four and Rosita hadn't turned up yet.

"This is ridiculous" she said to the fluorescents of the ceiling, sighing. Just in that instant, she heard steps approaching, and appeared Rosita and Joan, the receptionist, scanning her with grins from ear to ear.

"Is she?" the receptionist asked. Rosita nodded solemnly.

"Joan, you know me. I work here" she added, but both women ignored her. They approached her, and suddenly, they dragged her to one of the rooms where they kept the medicines and started stripping her. Beth covered herself instinctively: she had always been really self-conscious about her own body, even when she was a child, and the fact that they were practically ripping out her clothes made her feel deeply uncomfortable.

"Oh, c'mon, we all have the same stuff" Joan snorted, moving Beth's arms away with a blow with the hand. Both Rosita and Joan started scanning her so intently that Beth flushed and felt the need to cover herself again, but she stayed still.

Suddenly, Rosita stepped forward and raised her breasts. Beth gasped and moved away.

"What on Earth are you doing?" she asked, in a volume much louder than she meant.

"You have beautiful breasts!" Rosita exclaimed, indignant, "And those bras you wear don't do you any favors. Oh my god" she sighed before she approached one of the back shelves and took out a bag.

"But…"

"It's just a few days ago I had a date with Abe and I didn't have the time to dress up, so I brought a few things here" Rosita explained quickly. Beth frowned.

"Who's Abe?" and suddenly her bra was on the floor and Rosita was clasping her another one.

"Hush now, we're doing something else".

"Do you dye your hair?" Joan asked her, taking a strand of hair between her fingers, and Beth shook her head, "Yeah, sure".

"C'mon, sit down here" Rosita commanded her, setting a footstool under her butt and throwing her blouse to her again. Beth put it on quickly and noticed, horrified, that she had a push-up bra now, "Don't make that face, that's much better".

Beth tried to protest, but she was quickly silenced by Joan grabbing her face suddenly and turning her head sharply from one side to another.

"This girl doesn't have a single flaw in her face" Joan muttered.

"I know, you could almost hate her, right?" Rosita commented cheerfully, before she stood behind Beth and started taking off her ponytail.

Beth didn't know where to look. In some moments she wanted to scream, "This is for Mrs. Dixon!" but every single word died in her throat or was hushed by the "shh" of the women.

When she reacted, Rosita and Joan had moved away from her and Rosita was raising a mirror in front of her with a content expression.

"So what do you think?" Rosita asked expectantly. Beth's jaw dropped to the floor. Rosita had brushed her hair and let it down, with two braids on each side and stuck behind. Joan had painted her stripe line and had put pink lip gloss on her, and suddenly, Beth lowered her eyes and found her frayed uniform that also had a coffee stain near her blouse pocket.

"Eh… it's… _interesting_ " she stuttered. Both women looked at each other, confused.

"Too much makeup?" Joan asked, raising an eyebrow. Rosita frowned.

"Hair that looks like a wasps' nest?" countered Rosita in the same tone.

"No, no, no" Beth rushed to say, afraid that her partners would start fighting right there, "It's just too much. I mean, I would never go to work like this".

"That's true" Joan admitted.

"Yeah, maybe it doesn't look really natural" confirmed Rosita. Suddenly, her eyes widened and clasped her hands, "Okay, you can put up your hair and take off your makeup, but don't even think about touching the lip gloss. He needs to look at your lips".

Beth held back a snort.

"Okay" she gave in. She took her hair elastic and collected her hair quickly, relieved of not having all that hair bothering her while she worked. She accepted the cleansing wipe that Joan reluctantly offered her and eagerly removed all the makeup before she looked at herself one more time.

"Smug" said Rosita. Beth smiled, "Well, I think our work here is done".

Rosita hid the bag again and opened the door to get out with Joan, but then something stopped her and she stood in the doorway.

"Wait" she whispered suddenly, "don't you think that some pretty earrings-?"

"No!" Beth exclaimed exasperated when she saw the thoughtful glint in their eyes.

"Alright, calm down. Every day you're more like Lori" Rosita teased her, closing the door just when an empty medicine box hit it. Beth stayed there, trying to keep calm. She looked at her wristwatch and saw that it was just half past four. She had time to take a linden tea and distract herself with her work until he arrived.

 _Focus on your job and everything will be fine_ , she repeated to herself one more time, closing the door behind her.

* * *

Beth thought she'd have a heart attack if she thought about Daryl walking in one more time. She had been biting her nails and she hated it, but she couldn't help it. She had to stay in the living room with the elderly, and she supposed it was not a very good idea to tell her problem to octogenarians.

 _What problem are you talking about_ , she scowled herself, _there's nothing to worry about, stop making things up._

She kept telling herself that while she fidgeted with her hands nervously and stared at the door. Finally, at seven to six, Beth had already taken three linden teas and her heartbeats hadn't lowered in the least.

"Greene" Beth turned around and found Dawn under the doorway of her office. She made Beth a gesture to approach, "Go ahead and come in".

"But… But I…"

"Do you have something else to do besides staring at the entry?"

"I was waiting for a patient's relative-"

"I'm sure Joan will be able to show them where their family is. Come on".

With a resigned sigh, Beth approached and closed her eyes unconsciously when she heard the door closing. Now she didn't know why she was afraid. Well, she wasn't afraid of knowing what Dawn would tell her. She was _terrified._ She could already listen to her telling her that they didn't need her help in the nursing home.

 _It's over_ , Beth thought, _they're going to fire me._

"Well… Beth, right?" she nodded. Dawn smiled softly, "Don't be nervous. You don't need to be"

"Is that so?" Beth asked without being able to contain herself. Dawn's smile widened and she shook her head, like she was explaining something to a little child.

"Of course not. Your superiors have always given me really good informs of your job" Dawn answered while looked through some papers. Beth got to see her file picture before the director closed the file abruptly and put her elbows in the table, smiling again, "Punctual, hardworking, patients love you… why would you need to be nervous? Is there something that I should know?"

 _I have inappropriate thoughts about a patient's relative._

 _I ordered the reparation of a nursing home's property to a stranger._

 _My friend has a stash of makeup in the medicine room._

 _I don't have inappropriate thoughts, I have incredibly inadequate thoughts about a patient's relative._

"No, nothing" Beth answered, returning her a smile. Dawn laughed softly and intertwined her hands on the table.

"See, Beth, I don't like beating around the bush. You should know by now that we're going through a time when the subventions are practically inexistent. That's why we have to reduce your working day. From now on you'll work in the night shift just two days a week".

"But I-"

"The rest will be duty hours and afternoon shifts" Dawn continued as if she hadn't heard her, "We'll email you your new schedule-"

"I need to work on the night shift-"

"You start next week. You can leave" and with that and another smile, Dawn gestured her to leave. Beth swallowed before she stood up very slowly and headed towards the door. She had just turned the doorknob when Dawn called her again, "Oh, and Beth".

"Yes?" she whispered, barely turning around.

"Tell nurse Grimes that I need to talk to her as soon as possible, please".

Beth closed her eyes an instant and nodded.

"Thank you, Beth".

She didn't even know how she was able to get out of the office. She heard some of her partners calling her name, but she kept walking. She didn't want them to see her crying.

She stopped when she reached the back of the nursing home, where there were just the bins next to another emergency exit and an old garden where there wasn't any flower left, and she leaned her back against the metallic door, huffing.

Her mind starting thinking frantically, doing the math. She could try looking for some extra job. She could give piano lessons, or private music lessons. She could work in the evenings the days she had afternoon shifts. Yes, she could make it.

She was so focused on her inner calculations that she took a couple minutes to realize that it had started drizzling since she was protected by a small roof. After that, she took another couple seconds to react and remember that Daryl should be waiting for her.

She saw it was ten past six and started running to the entry. She crashed against Joan, who was carrying lots of papers in her hands, the same papers that started flying around.

"Damn it!" Joan swore. Beth bent down next to her to help her pick up the mess.

"It was my bad, I'm so sorry" Beth said to her, giving Joan papers at full speed. The receptionist shook her head.

"Doesn't matter, I was gonna throw it anyway" Joan answered, but she took the papers from Beth's hands with brusqueness.

"Joan, have you seen Mrs. Dixon's son?" the receptionist raised her head and looked at Beth, frowning.

"I thought he was with you and that he had already left"

"What? No"

"He arrived five minutes ago and I told him that you would probably been waiting for him in his mother's room".

"No, I was outside".

"Then you know where he is", and she shrugged, standing up and leaving Beth kneeling on the floor.

Shit. He was probably gone again.

A few seconds later she stood up too and headed towards Mrs. Dixon's room, praying silently so the poor woman was still gone and didn't remember anything that she could have told her that morning.

Her heart skipped a beat when she found Daryl in the middle of the room. Mrs. Dixon was soundly asleep, her back facing him, and he was just looking at her. Beth would have preferred to leave, but then he turned around – _how could have heard me?_ \- And pierced her with his eyes again. However, Beth didn't feel intimidated or vulnerable like other times. Not it was _him_ the one who seemed vulnerable, his eyes the widest Beth had ever seen them, like he was some kid caught with his hand in the cookie-jar. Beth smiled and came in.

"Sorry, my boss wanted to talk to me" she explained quietly. Daryl shook his head.

"Don't matter".

"Was she already asleep when you came in?" he nodded and she leaned in further to look at the old woman, who kept snoring softly, "Do you want me to…?" and she left the question in the air.

"No, no" Daryl muttered, "'S a'right".

"Okay" she answered, also whispering. She fidgeted with her hands for a second before she looked at him again, "You don't have to be stand, you can sit down" and gestured at the armchair beside the bed, "I'll bring you coffee".

She exited the room looking for her thermos. She took a plastic cup from the water dispenser and poured the liquid drink carefully.

When she came back, Daryl hadn't moved a bit. She wasn't surprised in the least, so she offered him the cup and didn't make any comment about it.

"Do you have new coffee machine?"

"Oh, no" she smiled bitterly, "I always bring my thermos from my house. It's dark coffee, but if you want sugar or…"

"Nah, I'm good".

"Okay" she answered before their voices faded. Beth wondered if things would always be like that between them, if it would be her always saying the last word, or if they'd end up in a silence that was starting to be less awkward and more strange.

However, in that moment the silence couldn't be described as any of those things. They watched the old woman sleeping, each one deep in their own thoughts. Beth was so deep in hers that she didn't realize Daryl was looking at her. When she did, she had to contain herself to not be startled by the surprise and returned the gaze. He lowered his eyes immediately and Beth swore she saw a light blush.

 _And I thought I was shy_ , she thought to herself.

"What's wrong?" she asked. Daryl shook his head, still looking at the floor.

"Nothin'. You seem tired" he answered after a few seconds. Beth laughed softly.

"Who, me?" she answered, gesturing at herself, "It's just I don't sleep much lately".

Daryl grunted something and she kept going.

"But don't worry, I'll survive. No one dies for sleep deprivation".

"Actually yeah" he answered, so quickly Beth took great effort in understanding him.

"Huh?"

"You can… you can die from that" he repeated, this time letting his eyes meet hers. Beth smiled.

"It was just a figure of speech. You seem tired too" she commented innocently. He shrugged.

"I never sleep for very long".

"How come?" Beth asked, genuinely surprised, "I sleep a lot. My dad used to call me marmot because on the weekends I would sleep till noon".

Beth smiled even more when she saw him turning his head to glaze at her, amused.

"He was right" she said, "I _am_ a marmot".

Daryl opened his mouth to say something, but suddenly his eyes moved to the right and he went livid. Beth spun around to see what was that had caused that reaction and found Mrs. Dixon staring at them from her bed.

"Daryl?" her voice was barely a whisper that resounded like she had shouted, "Is that you?"

Beth didn't know what to do. Should she leave and give them privacy, or get Daryl out of the room and get a doctor? Daryl didn't seem too eager to move or do anything at all. He just stood there, his body so tense that he looked like he was going to snap at any second, without saying anything and stared back at his mom.

Beth observed the scene like she was hypnotized, feeling confused the whole time and without being sure of how long everything had happened actually. It could have been hours since Mrs. Dixon raised her arm and tried to reach something until finally she gave up and her wrinkled hand fell with a thud over the mattress, as her eyes fluttered close, and then the spell was broken and Daryl started breathing again and his body deflated like a balloon.

Beth swallowed and grabbed him by his forearm softly, guiding him towards the door.

"Come on" she muttered, ignoring the stiffness of his body when she touched him. They walked through the aisle in silence until they reached the break room. Beth was surprised of how easily Daryl let him guide him, like he wasn't much heavier than her. She set a chair next to him and he fell over it as Beth rushed to get the thermos and refill his cup even though it was almost full. However, that gesture seemed to wake him up, because he blinked and took it to his mouth, drinking a few sips.

Beth sat down beside him and leaned her elbows in the table, observing him patiently until he finally dropped the cup in the table and returned her the glare.

"Are you okay?" she was surprised that one instant he was paralyzed and the next one he was nodding so strongly, but she nodded too and let it go, "Sometimes she has lucid moments. She remembers things, fragments of her life, but she's usually locked up in her own world. But… she's still her".

Daryl nodded again and she sighed.

"I know it must be hard, but… we have to keep trying".

This time, he frowned.

"Trying?"

"Yeah. No matter what happens, we'll deal with it" Beth affirmed.

Daryl looked at her in a way that she was unable to decipher. His hair covered lightly his eyes and she had a lump in her throat that disabled her to talk. Her hands stopped fidgeting in the table and it seemed like suddenly they had exchanged roles and now was her the one stiffening.

"Beth!" they both turned when Tanya, one of her colleagues, appeared at the door, smiling, "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt, but it's already seven and I thought you would want to know".

Beth blinked, confused, until finally Tanya's words clicked in her head.

"Oh" she said, looking awry at Daryl, "Okay, thank you for warning me, Tanya".

"No problem" she assured, "See you tomorrow".

"See you tomorrow" Beth answered. She dropped her hands on her lap and turned to smile at Daryl.

"What happens at seven?"

"My shift is over for today".

"Already?"

"Yep, this shift thing is a little bit chaotic. We have schedules, but maybe someday I see that someone got their shift reduced and I have to cover for them or vice versa" she answered, trying to feign normality despite the blush in her cheeks.

He nodded and stood up at the same time as Beth. They started walking to the entry without talking and Beth tried to stop herself to not wringing her hands nervously.

"Thank you so much for coming today, Daryl. It means a lot to her" Beth said, smiling as calmly as she could. The first peals of thunder could be heard in the distance, and when she turned her head momentarily she checked that the sky was completely covered up by thick, dark clouds.

Daryl raised his head and looked at her and then at the entry.

"Do you want me to take you home?" he asked.

"No, I'm good, it's just drizzling" she had not finished saying it and a new peal of thunder sent a much more powerful rumble through the nursing home's walls. Daryl raised an eyebrow and she couldn't help but laugh softly, "Well, I guess I could use a lift, but, won't we get wet anyway in the bike?"

"I took the truck" he answered, waving lightly the keys to confirm his understatement, "I didn't want to get soaked either".

"How did you know it was going to rain?" she asked, and he shrugged, "Your hunter skills and everything?"

Another shrug.

"Alright" she nodded, "Can you wait two minutes? I'll go change my clothes".

He grunted as an answer and she rushed to staff room to pick up her clothes. She switched them at full speed and had to tell herself that jumping wasn't a very mature action. She told herself that she was being ridiculous. Daryl was being nice to her, period. It was logical that he offered to give her a lift if it was pouring.

Beth had to practically jog to not get soaked, keeping her jacket above her head, while Daryl just gave two large steps to get to the truck. He started the car and neither of them said anything. Beth left her wet jacket in her lap and rested her head against the back of the seat, sighing.

He jumped slightly when he heard the first few notes of a song, and noticed that Beth looked as surprised by the radio.

"If you want to change-" he started, but she shook her head to cut him off.

"I like this song" Beth answered, smiling softly. She rested her head again and looked through the window while the music flooded the cab, accompanied by the sound of the rain outside.

She hadn't even realized she was humming until she felt Daryl's eyes on her. She shut up immediately and turned her head right when he moved his eyes away and pretended to be focused on the road, even though the blood was starting to stain his cheeks.

"I like Daughter very much. She's one of my favorite singers, and I just love this song" she explained, trying to relieve both of them of that absurd embarrassment, "Do you know her?"

He shook his head and Beth's smile widened.

"Her songs… they always have lyrics that mean something, that aren't just things that rhyme to entertain, you know? They're beautiful, but they're also really sad. I like the idea of something being sad and pretty at the same time" she felt ridiculous as soon as the words slipped past her lips, but Daryl didn't mock her, but he looked at her intently and then he turned his head again, provoking Beth to flush this time.

Finally, she smiled and started singing again, this time with her eyes on him the whole time.

 _So please just blow out all the candles, blow out all the candles_

" _You're too old to be so shy", he says to me so I stay the night_

 _It's just a young heart confusing my mind, but we're both in silence_

 _Wide-eyed, both in silence_

 _Wide-eyed, like we're in a crime scene_

…

* * *

When the truck finally stopped in front of her apartments building, Beth smiled.

"Thank you so much for giving me a lift"

"S' nothing" Daryl said, as always as Beth thanked him something. She shook her head while she giggled.

"Yeah it is" she countered, "Thank you" she said, this time in a much lower whisper, her eyes fixed on him. Daryl returned the glare with the same intensity and nodded.

"You're welcome".

Beth grinned and opened the door.

"Now I have to invite you to go out for another coffee for this" she said in a casual way. He huffed softly.

"Nah" he answered and Beth felt like she was paralyzed. Daryl raised an eyebrow, "Innit my turn?".

She felt the air escaping from her lungs.

"Yeah, I guess" she said with a teasing smile. She thought she had seen how the corners of his mouth curved slightly before she got out of the car, "Bye, Daryl".

She practically jumped while she climbed the stairs, happiest than she had ever been in her life. She started looking for her keys in her bag, dancing while she put the key in the lock, and frowned when it didn't open. She tried again, but it was the key which didn't fit. She was sure that was the one, she had lived enough time there to know that. She tried with others just in case, but she didn't succeed. Suddenly, the door opened and she found Len in front of her with his arms crossed.

"What do you want, Beth? You're making a lotta noise" he said, like it was the most natural thing to say.

"What are you doing here?"

"This is my house".

"No, I rent this apartment. You can't come in whenever you want and… have you changed the lock?"

"Yeah" he answered.

"Why?" but Len simply shrugged.

"I wanted to".

Beth froze, too shocked by the absurdity of the situation to react properly. That was her apartment. That was her home. He couldn't get in as if nothing and change the locks.

"Len" she started, "you _can't_ do this".

"Course I can. You've been, how much, two months without paying me the rent? What do you think I'm some fucking charity service, that I'm gonna let you live in my house for free?"

"I told you that I'd give you every penny on Friday" Beth answered.

"You have the money?"

"Not yet, but-"

"Then get the hell outta here".

"What are you talking about? This is my home! Here are my things, I live here-!"

"I'll send you your things where you want, and now leave".

"This is illegal".

"Sue me" he replied, smiling, "and I'll tell how you've been taking advantage of my good faith in you during these months. If you violate the contract I can too".

"Len, please" she muttered, "don't do this to me".

He laughed.

"Oh, but there's another solution, sweetheart" Len answered, raising his hand to caress her face. Beth turned her face immediately, repulsed, "No? Well, then I don't want you here. Get the fuck outta here or I'll call the cops".

And without anything more, he closed the door in her face. Beth stayed staring at the wood for a few seconds, too stunned and indignant to do anything else, just before her fist crashed strongly against the door, hitting it with rage.

"LEN! LEN, OPEN THE DOOR! YOU CAN'T KICK ME OUT! WHERE I'M GOING TO GO NOW? LEN! LEN!"

She thumped the wood a few more times, but there was no response. She extended her fist against the wood, trying to keep the sobs that tried to conquer her under control.

She had nowhere to go.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you so much for reading and please review!


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